


Shooting Stars

by EverettVargas (EverettV)



Series: Angel Pair Week 2016 [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Journalism, Angel Pair Week 2016, Break Up, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Heartbreak, M/M, Romance, fake romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 13:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9074161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverettV/pseuds/EverettVargas
Summary: Feliciano is the owner of a small shop and believes in love. Arthur is jobless and hates love. How will these two get along?





	

Feliciano hums softly as he turns the sign on for his shop. Shooting Stars. A shop made for romance. He smiles brightly as he moves behind the counter again, waiting for the first person to enter the store. Ever since he was a child he’s always loved, well, love. It’s such a beautiful thing, in his opinion, for someone to love another. So he opened a shop and called it Shooting Stars, since he wants to grant wishes like they do. 

“Hello! Welcome to Shooting Stars! Have any love wishes, we might be able to grant one!” Feliciano lights up at the sight of someone walking in, though he relaxes a bit at the familiar face. “Tonio! What are you doing here? Oh you want to get Lovi a gift for his birthday, don’t you?” He smiles brightly at the thought. Antonio nods and blushes darkly, looking at everything. 

“I was looking for flowers. I have another present already, but you know, he loves red roses. I also brought you a card. I’m not a jerk.” He smiles softly, handing it over. Feliciano opens the card and smiles. 

“Thank you Toni!” He goes through the cash and finds that it’s quite a bit. Antonio picks out a few bouquets of red roses and a card to go with it, smiling as he pays and leaves. Feliciano sighs, leaning on his hand. After the Valentine's Day rush was over he had barely any business. People comes in for anniversary gifts, but it’s not often, and he’s genuinely worried about paying his rent. Feliciano runs a hand through his hair as steps away from the counter, going into the back to grab some more items to set on the shelves. 

He leans down to grab a box off the bottom shelf when a bell rings in the front. He stands up quickly and smashes his head into the shelf above it. Feliciano falls backwards and rubs the back of his head. “I’ll be right out!” He calls and shakily gets to his feet, choking back tears as he enters the front room again. “Hello! How can I help you?” He asks gently, rubbing the back of his head. He freezes when he sees the attractive man on the other side of the counter, then smiles brightly. 

Arthur was a little worried when he heard the crashing in the back room, but didn’t do anything when he heard the person call to him. He blushes lightly at the smile on Feliciano’s face and looks down slightly. “I… Well I saw the help wanted sign and I really need a job. I just got out of a relationship and I lost my job so… Where can I get your job applications?” He asks. Feliciano nods dumbly for a moment before it catches up to him. 

“Oh! I have them here. Give me a moment, sì?” He holds a finger up then heads to the back, snagging the folder from his desk. He brings it back and hands it over. “I’m sorry to hear about what’s been happening to you. Just fill out all these papers and return them as soon as possible, and then we can schedule you an interview!” Feliciano watches in fascination at Arthur’s pale cheeks flushing a light red. 

“I’m the owner. My name is Feliciano Vargas.” He holds out his hand to Arthur to shake. Arthur grabs his hand firmly and shakes. 

“My name is Arthur Kirkland. I’m sure it’s a pleasure.” Arthur glances around the small shop and can’t hide the look of disgust that comes to his face. He pulls his hand away from Feliciano and opens the folder. “I’ll return with this tomorrow. How about noon for an interview? Unless you need the shop to be open at that time? I have no problems with coming in after hours if you’d prefer that.” He tilts his head. 

Feliciano nods a bit. “After hours would be better for me.” He responds, leaning on the counter. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Arthur!” He waves as the Brit exits the shop then frowns to himself, wondering why Arthur looked so disgusted. Feliciano brings out a broom and starts to sweep up the dust on the floor, sighing softly. 

The next day he was blessed with more business than the day before. He smiles softly as he turns off the sign and cleans the store while waiting for Arthur to arrive. The bell ringing alerts him to the Brit’s return. Feliciano leans the broom against a shelf and walks over to Arthur, gesturing for him to follow him to the back. 

“So Arthur, why do you want to work at Shooting Stars, well, other than for the obvious reasons?” He asks and smiles at him. Arthur blushes and looks down, gripping his hand in a tight fist as he tries to come up with something. Arthur frowns deeply and looks at Feliciano, who he suddenly notices is staring at him with deep, golden eyes. 

“Oh, pardon me. I don’t know, perhaps I am looking for something to prove to me that love is real.” Arthur responds, handing over the folder with the filled out application and his resume. Feliciano sits behind his desk, nodding. He opens the folder and smiles softly, reading over his resume. 

“Well, you can’t find a better place to work than here then! You have quite an impressive resume, why here and not somewhere else? Oh I guess you already answered that.” He laughs lightly, watching Arthur with mildly amused eyes. He asks a few more questions, watching Arthur takes notes, though he’s not sure why. He shrugs it off easily, humming to himself. “You can start tomorrow!” He exclaims happily. “Be here at eight am sharp, that’s when the shop opens. You’ll work until five pm. You’ll have two breaks that you can take whenever you want, at 20 minutes long apiece. You will have an hour for lunch.” Feliciano stands up and reaches out to shake Arthur’s hand again, which the Brit gratefully does. 

The next few days Arthur struggles to learn the ropes, but he eventually does, though he looks forward to Sunday, when he’ll have the day off. Feliciano also doesn’t work on Sundays, something about needing to go to church and family time. Arthur shrugged it off pretty quickly, glad to get away from that ridiculous place. He walks into a tall building and sits down in front of a stern looking man. 

“Hello Mr. Jones. I work in the food critique department and I wanted to propose a new article to help me get a promotion out of there.” Preferably before I get fired, Arthur finishes in his head. He is particularly bad at being a food critic, not for lack of trying, but purely because he prefers duller foods. Alfred smiles slightly and shrugs. 

“I’m sure we can arrange something. What do you have in mind, Mr. Kirkland?” He asks, leaning back in his chair. He watches the Brit collect his thoughts then give a small smirk. 

“I would like to write an article about how love is purely bullshit. I have already gotten a second job at a store called Shooting Stars. It’s a shitty, disgusting, romantic establishment run by the most hopeless person I have ever met in my life.” Arthur tells Alfred and also leans back. “I plan to get into a relationship with him, do all the cliche things, and then dispute then in an article.” He says. Alfred nods. 

“That has merit. Now prove that you can do it.” Alfred smirks softly.

\--- 

Feliciano smiles at Arthur as he comes into the shop again on Monday. “Ciao! Ciao! How was your day off? I had so much fun! I hope you did too! I wanted to know if you want me to throw a party for you, since you just started working here, but it’s been a week.” He hums softly. Arthur shakes his head. 

“No. How about you accompany me to a private dinner instead?” He offers. Feliciano pauses, eyes wide and a dark blush coming over his cheeks. He looks down with a small smile. 

“Well sure, that sounds nice. How about after work today?” He asks gently. Arthur nods as he pulls on the bright pink and frilly apron that is the uniform. He hates it, personally, but he needs to wear it to keep up the image. He turns to a still blushing Feliciano. 

“We’ll go out right after the shop closes. I was thinking a nice downtown establishment, then maybe a quiet walk along the river's edge?” Arthur offers. Feliciano glances outside then shrugs gently, smiling softly. 

“If the weather holds. I don’t want to walk around in the rain.” He responds as he stocks the shelves. Arthur nods then gets to work alongside him. The day was fairly busy, much to Arthur’s surprise, but he’s more than glad when it’s over. He takes off the apron and hangs it up before pulling on his coat and turning to Feliciano. 

Feliciano pulls on his coat and smiles at Arthur, grabbing his umbrella. “It’s raining, so I don’t think we’ll be doing that walk along the river.” He looks out the window. “But we can still do dinner, if you’d like.” Arthur nods and holds out a hand to Feliciano. He smiles slightly when Feliciano takes his hand and leads him outside. Before Feliciano has a chance to open his umbrella he pulls him into a deep kiss, dipping him as the rain soaks them. When he separates their lips he smirks softly at the look on Feliciano’s face. 

Several dates later Feliciano is utterly in love with Arthur. He even plans on confessing to Arthur that night, when they have dinner at Feliciano’s place. He hums as he picks up the newspapers to fill the basket. Feliciano pauses when he sees the headline and sets the pile down before opening it up. 

“Love is Foolish by Arthur Kirkland” it reads. Feliciano reads the article and his heart aches. He drops the paper and slides to the floor, tears pouring off his cheeks. He turns the open sign back off and locks the door before hiding in the back. At eight he hears the door jingle then the phone ringing. 

“Hello?” He asks weakly, forcing his tears away. 

“Are you not opening the shop today, Feli? You neglected to tell me as such.” Arthur frowns softly, looking at the sign. He hears a sharp intake of breath on the other end. 

“You’re fired. And no, I’m not opening the shop today. Vaffanculo, Arthur Kirkland.” He snaps, slamming the phone back on the receiver before Arthur can say a word. All Arthur can do as he walks away is smirk softly to himself, proud.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1: Shooting Stars


End file.
